Construction is expected to start in January. The first tenants could move in by spring of 2016.

The lure of Greenville's West End has drawn yet another housing project.

Charlotte-based Grubb Properties plans to build a 217-unit apartment complex at the corner of River and Rhett streets, where a parking lot and the City Welding building now sits, said Rachel Russell, the company's director of real estate development.

It will be called Link Apartments, an urban infill concept Grubb Properties has already introduced in walkable neighborhoods in Winston-Salem, Raleigh and Richmond, Va.

The brand is designed to target Millennials who want to be able to walk to work and entertainment centers, Ruseell said.

"Downtown Greenville is something we've been eying for a while," she said.

The West End project would be a six-story building with a subterranean parking deck and studio, one- and two-bedroom apartments. Rents would be market rate and comparable to nearby apartments at 98 McBee or 400 Rhett, Russell said.

Units would be a little smaller than average but still have such things as walk-in closets and large kitchens with granite and stainless steel finishes, she said.

The smaller square footage allows the developer to build more units while offering "very cool" amenities, such as a fitness center, two courtyards, a swimming pool, dog park, rooftop terrace and a cycling center where you can tune up and store bikes, Russell said.

The proposal would go before the city's Design Review Board for approval in September.

If plans for Link go forward, the West End would see nearly 850 new units rise up over the next year, based on numbers provided by the city.

That might seem like a deluge to someone local, Russell said, but all signs seem to show that the projected demand for rental housing downtown will be able to handle the influx.